Friday, September 17, 2010

by blogger gbqAn Illinois law now requires police to test all rape kits since the state has a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits. This new law will help to catch sex offenders and put them behind bars. Illinois is not the only state with a backlog problem. Cities in Michigan and Texas reportedly have thousands of untested rape kits as well. Should this law have been implemented a long time ago? Should all states implement this new law?

"On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch released a report showing that since 1995, only about 20 percent of rape kits, which contain physical evidence obtained from victims, could be confirmed as having been tested in Illinois. More than 4,000 kits had gone untested, the report found."

7 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I believe that all kits should be tested and shoul dbe mandatory for all states to implement. I mean why would you not test the kits? I understand backlog, but someone out there needs justice and help finding who committed this awful crime to them, testing all kits would be the first step in giving closure and locking up the rapist.LNA

I do believe that every state should have a mandatory law that requires them to test all rape kits. I t seems like that would be too much like right. People have been harmed and the offender may still be out in the community. The offender should be behind bars and the way to make sure that they are in prison is by testing the rape kits. Having a backlog is understanding, but the numbers of untested rape kits should not be outstanding. LML

I believe that this could help to make the victim feel safer and more like the police and other departments are actually looking for their violator. This can also add more jobs to some states to help with the backlog. Just a thought from the human services standpoint.ADT

I believe that the rape kits should have been priority to test in the beginning. Illinois has to think about all of the women/men who are left hopeless and selfless after a rape has taken place. It is only fair for the victim to at least know that steps are being taken to prevent this rapist from attacking again. This law should not only be stressed in Illinois but for ALL states! ALL victims have the right to know who harm them and every offender should be punished.BLT

This is a good law. There could be several sexual predators out that are recommitting crimes. By testing the rape kits, they may be able to get more people off of the streets. This will also help the victims hopefully find peace. JNH

It should be mandatory to test all rape kits. DNA is the usually the best evidence since eyewitness or victim's memory may be faulty. What is the purpose of getting the rape kits if they are not going to be tested. What about the offenders that may have been found if the offender is picked up on an unrelated charge. Besides that, what if something happens to the place where the DNA is being stored. I dont understand what makes police test some kits but not others. GRJ